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Monday, July 14, 2014

Marseille Sophistiqué - Tarot Illustration (part 3)

...And then there were four.

I'm happy with the Wands and coins a bit more open-looking suits.

I've done away with the faux stains, because there was something weird about stains on cards treated to resist them (we're planning on doing a matte coating if possible, but it will still be clearly coated), but otherwise these have seen little conceptual difference from the previous sets.

On the Wands, I emphasized their ends as knobs rather than flared, to be sure they and the swords couldn't get confused. My emphasis on this set was the more natural feeling, which was a heavy influence in the previous suits, as well. What catalyzed it was actually the older forms of the wooden branch-style wands (Ace, Page, Knight) which I felt, when more flared and in red and green, resembled some sort of alien thigh more than a branch.

The coins were largely responsible for the shading I developed and even though I finished them later, they feel like the basis for a lot of the deck, such as the reference to the French suits (seen in the miniature diamonds on these coins). Also, the King has a lot of attitude, and is probably my favorite of the face cards.

Note: the 2 of coins will be getting new text due to a different translation